Chapter 20: Confront

"The Orcs are talking to each other and laughing, huh? They seem pretty much intelligent and well organized." Athena held the long sword tighter in her right hand and a metallic shield in her left and dashed forward.

Like a shadow, she surpassed the speed of a horse and reached the area where the battle had started. At the same time, Superintendent Henry, Inspector Elijah, and all the other police officers joined the fight.

Within minutes, heads flew everywhere as reddish blood painted the sand. Police officers and private mercenaries killed the low-rank monsters mercilessly and tried their best to reduce the numbers. But it wasn't an easy job.

Due to the large number of monsters, it wasn't an easy job to avoid getting hurt. Casualties started to occur pretty quickly due to some goblins' combined attacks.

Athena also noticed that goblins were targeting the private mercenaries and moved swiftly. She didn't hide her strength and danced on the battlefield like her playground.

As Athena plunged into the battlefield, her sword danced with lethal precision. Each swing and thrust was executed with a calculated grace, leaving goblins, kobolds, and wolves sprawled in her wake. The battlefield became a symphony of clashing metal, roars, and the occasional yelps of wounded monsters.

Suddenly, Athena noticed that the Hobgoblins, tall wolves, and elite Kobolds had joined the battle.

Without hesitation, she killed the two goblins running at her with a simple sword slash and moved toward the nearest tall wolf.

The wolf also noticed her action and instantly shifted its attention to her. As she moved forward, it leaped in the air with a wide-open mouth and tried to rip her to shreds.

"Obsidian Shield!" Athena bellowed as mysterious dark power appeared from her body, completely enveloping the metallic shield, turning it into a pure blackish crystal-like shield.

A dull sound echoed as Athena slammed the shield on the elite wolf's mouth, making its teeth fall.

At the same time, she titled her long sword and moved it at an incredible speed towards its neck.

If it was a normal sword, it could barely give a shallow wound due to the presence of tough skin.

But an invisible force appeared around the sword's edges, making the blade cut through the flesh and bones like paper.

It was the Basic Sword Aura!

In a blink, she decapitated an intermediate-rank monster and killed it. But she didn't even take a breath. She moved to another nearby elite kobold monster and killed it in three moves. Within a few minutes, she managed to kill more than 7 Intermediate Rank monsters and boosted the soldier's morale.

Cheerful sounds echoed from the nearby soldiers as she continued to kill monsters and bathed in blood.

While she was becoming the hero of the main squad, Baron's Elite Squad had already engaged the Orc creatures. A burst of twelve magic bullets came from the elite team and physically damaged the Orcs. Some hit the Orc's eyes, some hit their chest region, and a few even missed hitting any fatal area.

Alas, no Orc died in that attack.

Instead, a strange, mysterious, reddish aura appeared around every Orc's skin, boosting them into a frenzied state and strengthening their morale.

With no other choice, the Elite Squad abandoned their Aether rifles and engaged in close combat.

Their weapons cleaved through the air, clashing with the massive axes and swords of the orcs, creating loud noises. Athena noticed the formidable strength of the high-rank monsters and felt an urge to confront them.

"But they are already-" Before she could mutter, she suddenly sensed something was unique about one Orc among the group and halted her movement. It looked almost similar to the other orcs and used a gigantic sword to block away an Elite Knight's attack while stumbling.

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But as she looked at its sword movement, it had a sense of refinement and precision. If she hadn't been practicing the 'Shadowstep Dance' swordsmanship, she wouldn't have noticed that Orc's swordsmanship had already surpassed her own and even had profound meaning!

'Even in legends, orcs are supposed to be dumb among the high-rank monsters. But this one manages to understand sword art. It is waiting for Knight Jayce to let his guard down!' She instantly dashed forward and shouted as she had seen through its disguise.

"Sir Jayce, be careful of that Orc. It is deliberately letting its guard down to lure you."

"What are you talking about-?" Just as the Elite Knight Jayce asked, he noticed that the strength of this Orc suddenly increased.

He felt like his sword was hitting against a towering metal wall and felt numb.

"Oh no!" Before he could blink, he suddenly noticed that the gigantic sword had broken his sword and directly slammed into his body.

Even though he was an Elite Knight, the power hidden behind that strength was far surpassed that of a High-Rank Monster!

His body was flung more than 50 meters away from the original position and crashed to the ground. He vomited a mouthful of blood and tried to stand back but couldn't. At that moment, he felt his hand was twisted in a weird angle while his broad chest appeared to be broken.

He couldn't even let out a scream as pain assaulted all over his body, causing him to fall. Although he hadn't died yet, he was not in a state to battle anymore.

A dead silence appeared on the battlefield as Athena gawked at the Orc in shock.

Its mere presence caused her legs to shake lightly.

On the other hand, the Orc also turned its gaze towards her and walked forward with its giant legs.

"It's an Orc Commander, a mutated monster that could be said to be a descendant of a Magical Beast! Be careful of its strange skills!" One of the Elite Knights recognized its unique traits and warned everyone.

"You aren't going anywhere near her, you damned monster!" At that moment, a loud shout came from the backside as Shirley left her hiding spot and ran in Athena's direction.

Baron and others also ran out of their hiding spot and sped forward.

All this time, they had been staying hidden and searching for this group's leader from the surroundings. But none suspected that it was hiding among the Orcs!

"Aunt, I'll be all right, so don't lose your cool." Athena roared and dashed forward.

Like before, the Orc Commander made a cruel smirk with its pig face and raised its sword before running forward with a gigantic body.

As it arrived closer to her, the Orc Commander let out a bellowing shout and slammed its sword toward Athena like earlier.

'Obsidian Shield.' Athena activated her defensive skill, covered the shield with a dark crystalline layer, and blocked the upcoming attack.

A bang sound echoed as two forces collided against each other, releasing a rippling shockwave in all directions!

Unlike the Elite Knight Jayce, she only got pushed back a few feet. She stood firmly on the ground even after blocking such a powerful attack and enveloped her sword in an invisible Basic Sword Aura.

Another strange silence appeared on the battlefield.

But she knew that she couldn't block such attacks head-on continuously and decided to cripple it first.

"ROAR!" Stunned by this tiny human's action, the Orc Commander let out a furious roar and raised its sword again.

But this time, Athena suddenly used her other knight skill called 'Dark Dash,' moved behind the Orc Commander in a split second, and slashed her sword at its knee pit area!

Blood gushed out of its leg as the sword cut through the Orc Commander's fleshy skin and even severed its tendons. Although Orcs were strong in pure strength, they lacked agility and toughness. Their flesh was not like hardened rock, which made her sword slice through its deep leg neatly.

Alas, Athena noticed that its flesh was healing at an incredible speed. But she also noticed a strange thing: its tendons still appeared the same.

'It has good regeneration ability but not enough to regenerate or heal tendons. I must sever its other leg and make it immobile.' Her eyes became firm.

As she was about to attack it again, the Orc Commander moved its sword and tried to attack her again.

'Sh*t! It noticed my plan.'

She once again used 'Dark Dash' and evaded the attack. At the same time, she made a swift sword movement and slowly disappeared from the Orc Commander's sight!

It was the 'Shadowstep Dance' technique's first skill called 'Shadow Stealth'!

Angered, it gave a furious shout and tried to move towards the other Orcs.

But before it could take another step, a sharp cut appeared on the knee pit area of its other leg. Blood gushed out from both legs as it tried to take a step forward but stumbled.

At that moment, Baron Alexander and Shirley arrived at the battle area and blocked the Orc Commander's path.

The first one to attack was Baron Alexander. With a swift jump, he leaped into the air and aimed his broadsword at its shoulder.

At the same time, his blade suddenly turned pure white and created a blade-like aura.

The aura expanded, forming a crescent-shaped energy wave that sliced through the air, aiming directly at the Orc Commander's shoulder. The impact was tremendous, cutting deep into the Orc's tough hide.

Shirley followed suit, and her Inferno Blade Arts was activated. Flames danced along the blade of her sword as she swung it towards the Orc Commander's midsection. The intense heat accompanied the strike, causing the Orc to howl in pain as the flames licked its skin.